Leveling the Playing Field:The Sports Gallery at the Smithsonian African American History Museum

Dr. Damion Thomas’s talk will explore the development of the Sports Gallery at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, and how sports can illustrate key moments and ideas in history. Dr. Thomas will share his curatorial vision and behind-the-scenes details of creating the gallery.

This presentation is free for CMCH members as part of the CMCH Annual Meeting and $5 for non-members.

Damion Thomas is the Museum Curator of Sports for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. He earned a Ph.D. in United States History at UCLA. Prior to joining the museum, he was an assistant professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, and the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign, where he taught courses that focused on sports in United States history, sports and U.S. race relations, and sports and black masculinity. He is the author of Globetrotting: African American Athletes and Cold War Politics.